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Agence France-Presse

India is hopeful it will avoid US sanctions over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
New Delhi has been “heard and understood” by the US administration over its accord to buy the S-400 missile defence system for US$5.2 billion, the minister said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in October, defying US warnings of sanctions on countries buying Russian military equipment.
The sanctions were part of measures to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine in 2014.
When Putin’s Russia arms India, China and the US keep one eye open
President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on China’s military last year over Beijing’s purchase of the S-400 and other military hardware.
It has also warned Nato member Turkey of sanctions for buying the S-400, and has suspended Turkey’s participation in a US jet programme.
Sitharaman said Washington has taken on board that India, bordering Pakistan and China, needed arms from Russia and others to remain a “strong partner”.
Negotiations with Moscow, a long-standing supplier to India’s military, on the S-400 began before the US sanctions were introduced, she said.
“In the case of S-400 we have explained ourselves well … That has been heard and understood,” Sitharaman said. “They have appreciated the point of view put forward.”

Asked if she was confident that India would avoid sanctions, Sitharaman said: “Yes I hope so.”
Before the deal was signed, Washington poured cold water on India’s efforts to obtain a waiver from the US Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Upgrades in arms systems “including the S-400 air and missile defence system” would be a particular focus for CAATSA, a US State Department spokesperson was quoted as saying by India’s PTI news agency.
But Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told a hearing in March that Washington wanted to “work through” the problem, calling India “an important emerging strategic partner.”
He added, however, that India’s contract with Russia has not been completed and that the US was “very keen to see (India) make an alternative choice (to the S-400) and we are working with them to provide potential alternatives.”
Why India should rethink its reticence towards ‘the Quad’
Washington is in a tricky position with India. It wants to bolster ties with the Asian giant to counter China’s assertiveness, a trend which has also rattled New Delhi.
In 2017, India and China had a military stand-off over a Himalayan plateau claimed by both Beijing and Bhutan, a close ally of India.
Since then China and India have sought to patch up relations, including at a meeting between Modi and President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in April 2018.
“Sometimes there are differences and you have a face-off,” Sitharaman said. “But our attempt, particularly after the prime minister’s Wuhan meet with the Chinese president, our attempt has been that these differences … cannot be allowed to become disputes.”
But China has also made inroads in Sri Lanka and the Maldives – countries that India considers to be in its sphere of influence – through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In Maldives, India’s Modi sees the glint of a Chinese pearl
India has particular concerns about a series of projects passing through Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a disputed territory, which was the fuse for a new military flare-up between Pakistan and India in February.
China has also blocked efforts to put on a UN sanctions blacklist the leader of a Pakistan-based militant group that claimed a suicide bombing in India-administered Kashmir on February 14 that killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary troops.
New Delhi has reportedly declined a Chinese invitation to take part in a BRI forum in China later this month.
“Areas which are ours legally, which are under illegal occupation of Pakistan, are the ones which are becoming part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” Sitharaman said.
“So having made that position very clear, we have not took part in anything to do with BRI, and we stick to that position,” she said.


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US ‘understands’ India needs Russian missiles to remain ‘strong partner’ in region, Nirmala Sitharaman says

The S-400 missile system deployed at a Russian military base. Photo: Reuters

Russian servicemen line up after a new S-400 "Triumph" surface-to-air missile system was deployed at a military base outside the town of Gvardeysk near Kaliningrad, Russia March 11, 2019. Picture taken March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Photo: AFP

Why India should rethink its reticence towards ‘the Quad’

Indian Navy personnel march in New Delhi. Photo: AFP

An Indian Navy sailor stands guard on the deck of the INS Shivalik during the inauguration of joint naval exercises with the United States and Japan in Chennai on July 10, 2017. India began holding naval exercises with the United States and Japan off its south coast on July 10, seeking to forge closer military ties to counter growing Chinese influence in the region. / AFP PHOTO / ARUN SANKAR

Indian security forces inspect the remains of a vehicle following an attack on a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy that killed at least 16 troopers and injured several others near Awantipur town in the Lethpora area of Kashmir about 30km south of Srinagar on February 14, 2019. - At least 16 Indian soldiers were killed on February 14 in Indian-administered Kashmir in the deadliest attack on government forces in more than two years, police said. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence. Rebels have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan, for 30 years. (Photo by STR / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by STR has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [vehicle] instead of [bus]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) t

A security man stands guard as Karanj, India's third Scorpene class submarine is set afloat during its launch at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. Indian Navy launched Karanj on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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Defence minister is confident that New Delhi would avoid US sanctions over its purchase of Russian missile system



Defence minister is confident that New Delhi would avoid US sanctions over its purchase of Russian missile system.
